Volume I, song 058, pages 58 and 59 - 'The Blithsome Bridal' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Verse 1: 'Come, Fy! let us a' to the wedding, For there'll be lilting there, For Jock'll be married to Maggie, The lass wi' the gowden hair. And there will be langkail and castocks, And bannocks of barleymeal, And there will be good sawt-herring, To relish a cog of good-ale.' 'Langkail' and 'Castocks' are both traditional Scots fare with langkail being a whole colewort or cabbage and the castock, the stalk. 'Sawt' is the Scot's word for salt. The 'Scots Musical Museum' is the most important of the numerous eighteenth- and nineteenth-century collections of Scottish song. When the engraver James Johnson started work on the second volume of his collection in 1787, he enlisted Robert Burns as contributor and editor. Burns enthusiastically collected songs from various sources, often expanding or revising them, whilst including much of his own work. The resulting combination of innovation and antiquarianism gives the work a feel of living tradition. Robert Riddell, a friend of Burns, commented that occurrences of this song were extremely rare and its survival was a bit of a miracle. It is played to a tune known variously as 'An the Kirk wad let me be', 'Bonny Jean' and 'Silly old Man' although even these show slight variations. The lyrics have been attributed to Semple of Beltrees and Sir William Scott of Thirlestane, although the matter is far from settled.

Collection

Scots Musical Museum

Inventory Number

4503253

Title

Volume I, song 058, pages 58 and 59 - 'The Blithsome Bridal' - Scanned from the 1853 edition of the 'Scots Musical Museum', James Johnson and Robert Burns (Edinburgh and London: W. Blackwood & Sons, 1853)

Object Type

PhysicalObject

Measurements

- 130 x 211 mm